U.S. Pat. No. 2,284,248 teaches that concentrated solutions of highly siliceous alkali metal silicates (e.g. those containing at least two molecules of SiO.sub.2 to one molecule of alkali metal oxide such as K.sub.2 O or Na.sub.2 O) can be readily dehydrated by contact with various organic or inorganic dehydrating solutions e.g. strongly alkaline, strongly acid solutions, or solutions of metal or alkaline earth metal salts. The resulting gel-containing mixtures or cream-like suspensions are not homogeneous and are unstable in storage. Consequently substantial metering problems arise.